Revamped 'Smash' returns for second season

By ROB OWEN

PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE |

Wire Service

SMASH

Megan Hilty, left, and Katharine McPhee in NBC's "Smash."

9 tonight,

NBC

NBC's "Smash" began with promise a year ago and then sputtered through a season full of creative missteps. Inconsistent characterizations and repetitive plots damaged the show. New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum popularized the term "hate watching" with her second-look review of "Smash" midway through its first season. ("Hate watch" is when a viewer continues to watch despite thinking the show is worthy of disdain.)

"Smash," returning in revamped form for its second season tonight, was an ambitious series that failed as often as it succeeded, but I never hate watched it.

Even as its worst, I stuck with "Smash" and cheered it on, especially when the writers finally tired of the Ivy (Megan Hilty)-versus-Karen (Katharine McPhee) rivalry — long after viewers got bored with it — and flipped the script by giving them a common enemy in Rebecca St. Clair (Uma Thurman).

Even then, "Smash" had its forehead-slapper moments, including Ivy's apparent overdose in the season finale, any scenes involving Ellis (Jaime Cepero) or Julia (Debra Messing) and her ill-conceived affair with leading man Michael Swift (Will Chase).

Head writer replaced

There were enough missteps to worry NBC, which led network executives to bring in a new head writer, replacing series creator Theresa Rebeck with Joshua Safran ("Gossip Girl").

Judging by three episodes sent for review, these course corrections work. Admittedly, it's a long way until the end of the show's second season and "Smash" could develop a whole new set of problems, but at least some of last year's errant plotting is under control.

This season the show's focus expands. While production of the Marilyn Monroe musical "Bombshell" is still a part of "Smash," it's just one aspect of the series, which introduces new characters and bounces around amid multiple plots involving several Broadway shows.

Karen befriends Broadway star Veronica Moore (Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"), who may star in a revival of "The Wiz" directed by Derek (Jack Davenport). Karen also discovers Brooklyn strivers Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle (Andy Mientus), who pen their own "Rent"-like musical called "Hit List." Deeper into the new season, Sean Hayes will guest star as the star of a musical called "Liaisons," who clashes with Ivy.

Focus on Broadway

By distributing the show's focus — but keeping it tethered to the world of Broadway — "Smash" may be able to avoid last season's tendency for plots to repeat themselves. (Ivy's on top! Karen's on top! Ivy's on top again!) It also roots the stories in the Broadway theater scene rather than spinning off into the home lives of characters disconnected from work. The theater world has plenty of drama to mine without jumping to irrelevant, standard soap plots.

At a press conference last month, "Smash" producers were loath to offer specifics about what they disliked about the first season, but they did acknowledge reading criticism.

"I would say that our instinct about the show followed a lot of the things that people were saying about the show," said "Smash" executive producer Craig Zadan.

In a follow-up interview at an NBC party, Safran finally offered an example of a specific change he made to the show for its second season.

"As a viewer, I was maybe feeling like I wanted to focus more on the [Broadway] show they were creating," he said. "While I enjoyed the personal stories, my goal this year was to make sure they always impacted the work. While we don't always stay in a rehearsal room — we go home with people — but what they're dealing with at home impacts the work, which is the same for all of us with jobs. Our home life has to bleed in."

Revamped 'Smash' returns for second season

NBC's "Smash" began with promise a year ago and then sputtered through a season full of creative missteps. Inconsistent characterizations and repetitive plots damaged the show. New Yorker TV critic Emily Nussbaum popularized the term "hate watching" with her second-look review of "Smash" midway through its first season. ("Hate watch" is when a viewer continues to watch despite thinking the show is worthy of disdain.)

"Smash," returning in revamped form for its second season tonight, was an ambitious series that failed as often as it succeeded, but I never hate watched it.

Even as its worst, I stuck with "Smash" and cheered it on, especially when the writers finally tired of the Ivy (Megan Hilty)-versus-Karen (Katharine McPhee) rivalry — long after viewers got bored with it — and flipped the script by giving them a common enemy in Rebecca St. Clair (Uma Thurman).

Even then, "Smash" had its forehead-slapper moments, including Ivy's apparent overdose in the season finale, any scenes involving Ellis (Jaime Cepero) or Julia (Debra Messing) and her ill-conceived affair with leading man Michael Swift (Will Chase).

Head writer replaced

There were enough missteps to worry NBC, which led network executives to bring in a new head writer, replacing series creator Theresa Rebeck with Joshua Safran ("Gossip Girl").

Judging by three episodes sent for review, these course corrections work. Admittedly, it's a long way until the end of the show's second season and "Smash" could develop a whole new set of problems, but at least some of last year's errant plotting is under control.

This season the show's focus expands. While production of the Marilyn Monroe musical "Bombshell" is still a part of "Smash," it's just one aspect of the series, which introduces new characters and bounces around amid multiple plots involving several Broadway shows.

Karen befriends Broadway star Veronica Moore (Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"), who may star in a revival of "The Wiz" directed by Derek (Jack Davenport). Karen also discovers Brooklyn strivers Jimmy (Jeremy Jordan) and Kyle (Andy Mientus), who pen their own "Rent"-like musical called "Hit List." Deeper into the new season, Sean Hayes will guest star as the star of a musical called "Liaisons," who clashes with Ivy.

Focus on Broadway

By distributing the show's focus — but keeping it tethered to the world of Broadway — "Smash" may be able to avoid last season's tendency for plots to repeat themselves. (Ivy's on top! Karen's on top! Ivy's on top again!) It also roots the stories in the Broadway theater scene rather than spinning off into the home lives of characters disconnected from work. The theater world has plenty of drama to mine without jumping to irrelevant, standard soap plots.

At a press conference last month, "Smash" producers were loath to offer specifics about what they disliked about the first season, but they did acknowledge reading criticism.

"I would say that our instinct about the show followed a lot of the things that people were saying about the show," said "Smash" executive producer Craig Zadan.

In a follow-up interview at an NBC party, Safran finally offered an example of a specific change he made to the show for its second season.

"As a viewer, I was maybe feeling like I wanted to focus more on the [Broadway] show they were creating," he said. "While I enjoyed the personal stories, my goal this year was to make sure they always impacted the work. While we don't always stay in a rehearsal room — we go home with people — but what they're dealing with at home impacts the work, which is the same for all of us with jobs. Our home life has to bleed in."